DOT is scheduled to announce legislative proposals today to create a performance-based organization to operate the air traffic control system, as recommended by the National Civil Aviation Review Commission.
National Aviation Hall of Fame inducted James Lovell, astronaut; Sam Williams, inventor and entrepreneur; Harry Armstrong, physician who developed the medical criteria used in pressurized cabins, and Gervais Raoul Lufbery, America's first Ace and third-highest scoring American World War One Ace.
U.S. Major Carriers Change in RPMs, ASMs and Load Factor Fourth Quarter 1997 Load Factor (%) Carriers 1997 1996 Pts. Change Alaska 64.7 66.0 -1.3 America West 64.9 69.1 -4.1 American 67.7 67.8 -0.1
SAS traffic for March rose 9% to 1.78 billion revenue passenger kilometers. The load factor was 65.1%, up from 58.1% in February. The airline carried 1.9 million passengers, up 12%. Cargo volume increased 18% to 65 million freight ton kilometers.
AirBC, an Air Canada regional, will begin three daily nonstops between Victoria, British Columbia, and Seattle. The service will be operated as a code share with Star Alliance partner United. AirBC will operate de Havilland Dash 8 turboprops on the route, configured for 37 or 48 passengers. AirBC is offering a one-way introductory fare of $89 (C$123). United offers about 50 daily flights from Seattle.
Newcastle, Englad-based Gill Airways has placed an order for an ATR 72-200, which will be the seventh ATR turboprop in its fleet. The carrier, which operates two ATR 72s and four ATR 42s, serves a regional network in Northern England and Scotland and provides night freight services to the Royal Mail. It also is a franchisee for Air France on the New-castle-Paris route.
Air Transport Association and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association jointly are recommending to FAA that an independent risk assessment be conducted of GPS-based sole-means navigation. They also recommended continuing the Wide Area Augmentation System to provide sole-means navigation by 2001 in light of the risk assessment.
Continental filed for its exemption under the new U.S.-French bilateral permitting operations between any points in the two countries, and for beyond service to open-skies partners or points for which Continental already holds authority. The carrier will use its new authority in its code-share agreement with Air France.
New Regional Aircraft Deliveries, January 1998 Firm Orders Options Carrier No. Type No. Type Engines Trans States 7 EMB RJ-145 25 EMB RJ-145 AE3007A Orders - Last 12 Months - Options Carrier Delivery Dates No. Type No. Type Trans States June 98-July 99 - - - -
United will add a daily, nonstop flight between Miami and Caracas July 30. The new service will operate on a seasonal basis through Oct. 4 using Boeing 737s. More than 425,000 passengers travel between Miami and Caracas each year and the market is expected to grow 50% during the next five years, United said.
Charles Hunnicutt, DOT assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, will speak Tuesday at a monthly luncheon of the International Aviation Club. The event is scheduled at 11:45 a.m. at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Washington, D.C.
Delta, planning new flights this summer with its three Atlantic Excellence Alliance partners, will begin serving Karachi June 4 and Budapest June 20 from Zurich under code share with Swissair. The two carriers offer daily service to Zurich from Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, New York Kennedy, Newark, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, and six weekly flights from Chicago. With Austrian Airlines, it will operate daily Washington Dulles-Zurich service via Boston. With Sabena, it plans to start code-share service connecting the U.S. to Gambia and Guinea this summer.
Discussions between International Lease Finance Corp. and Boeing on the 100-seat 717 "slowed considerably in March and thus far in April," and ILFC is looking now at the Airbus competitor, Steven Udvar-Hazy, ILFC president, told The DAILY. Boeing targeted ILFC early this year for 50 orders and 50 options on the 717, he said. Udvar-Hazy also reported that ILFC has been "heavily preoccupied with late delivery problems, particularly involving the 737X series, 757s, 767s and 747-400s, most or all which are running late, and our airline customers are not happy."
Siberia Airlines has contracted with U.K. consulting firm Atlas Project Management to aid it in modernizing management, operations and marketing. Siberia, one of Russia's seven largest carriers, operates passenger and cargo flights and is based at Tolmachevo Airport, where it has a large maintenance base.
United Express carrier Great Lakes Aviation, meanwhile, has told the SEC that its annual 10-K filing for the year ended Dec. 31 will be late due to significant changes in results from the year-ago period. The carrier cited the impact of the "voluntary" suspension of operations in May mandated by the FAA, termination of the company's Midway Connection operation at Raleigh/Durham, and the anticipated disposition of the Embraer Brasilias from its fleet, which will result in certain charges against the year.
Association of European Airlines Top 30 Intra-European Markets The Year 1997 1997 1996 % Rank Market* Passengers Passengers Change 1 London - Paris 2,334,918 2,343,277 -0.4% 2 Dublin - London 1,901,945 1,728,840 10.0% 3 Amsterdam - London 1,871,556 1,722,254 8.7%
AirTran will discontinue service to Mobile, Ala., effective May 31. "Despite the diligent and supportive efforts of the Mobile Airport Authority during the past 18 months, the consistently poor performance in Mobile leaves us with no choice but to reallocate...resources," said Ponder Harrison, senior VP-sales and marketing. In its former life as ValuJet, AirTran began serving Mobile in May 1996 and announced it would pull out of the market in January 1997, but was persuaded to stay by community leaders offering increased revenue guarantees (DAILY, Jan. 15, 1997).
The DOT Inspector General's office will issue a report today on FAA's failed Advanced Automation System, written at the request of the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee. With programs such as STARS and WAAS under way, a government source said, the report on actions that led to wasting more than $1 billion "illustrates how not to do it."
FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) have agreed to the original date of June 1 for initial operating capability (IOC) of the Display System Replacement (DSR) at the Seattle air route traffic control center (ARTCC). The union balked at the date until FAA agreed that it will not proceed beyond Phase 2 of the program at Seattle or any other site until pending solutions to "deployment critical deficiencies" are in place, said Randy Schwitz, NATCA executive VP.
LanChile and American have finalized a frequent flyer link in anticipation of code-share approval. Reciprocal frequent flyer privileges began April 15.
Embraer will roll out its new 37-passenger ERJ-135 May 12 in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, three months ahead of the original schedule. First flight is set for July, breaking a company tradition of flying new aircraft on the day of the "official" rollout. Certification will follow one year later with first delivery to launch customer Flandre Air of France. Flandre Air has ordered eight of the truncated ERJ-145s with 12 options.
